how much his advertising partnership with youtube pays. clark the dog has a facebook fan page. if you're wondering -- >> you're kidding me. >> reporter: what he really said in dog speak. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> brilliant as only she can do. see you, again, very soon. >> t.j. holmes takes it over in the "cnn newsroom." >> ali, we need to talk. we need to catch up. >> i know, i know. >> we can't do that right here. >> you do your show, and i'll be around. >> you don't want to talk to me? >> i talk to you all the time, christine. talk soon. we'll talk at the top of the hour. i'm t.j. holmes in for kyra phillips and all eyes on congress, the calendar and literally the clock. take a look at this.

you think the white house is getting their point across? that is a countdown clock showing nine days that that is how much time the white house has to extend the payroll tax cut or your taxes are going to go up. americans can go to this site and actually share their stories of what will happen to them if they lose their $40 per paycheck. that's the average an american will lose. let me bring in dan lothian and, dan, this seems like a full-on pr campaign by the white house and they're keeping the pressure up and i don't know if people saw it on the screen. this is what happened if congress doesn't act. it crossed out the word congress and it specifically says, the house doesn't act. >> they've been keeping the pressure now on house republicans all week and now it's another effort by this white house to drive that point home today where the president is holding an event here at the white house shortly after noon to show what's at stake. you've been talking about how the white house has been framing

this as hitting the middle class. those families making $50,000 a year, standing to lose about $40 per paycheck. so, they started this big media blitz through their blog and through twitter asking americans to weigh in, to say what they would do with that $40 and the white house says that more than 20,000 people have participated in it. so, today, some of those folks who did weigh in will be here at the white house along with others who say they'll be impacted by not having that $40 per paycheck. they'll be here with the president as he continues to put pressure on house republicans to pass this compromise bill and then work on something, a more long-term package next year. >> by most accounts the president is winning this battle, but, still the president is getting some criticism, at least, maybe expected criticism from the other side. let's listen to senator john

mccain from a little earlier on cnn. >> is it fair to put as much pressure house republican leadership as being intragdant. >> i think times like these and in the past four presidents i have served under they have exerted a lot more leadership than going shopping. by the way, i also feel in the upcoming election that is less than a year from now, no incumbent is safe nor should they be. >> he, of course, making the reference there to the video we saw of the president out shopping yesterday with the dog and with petsmart and picked up some things for the girls at best buy. a couple things here, dan, first of all, is the president hoping to get or trying to get more involved in these negotiations or step back and continue to reap the benefits of this political fight and, also, we

know nothing is done, really, without careful discussion at the white house about how you put the president out and where he goes. why go on this shopping trip? >> i think the white house tends not to want to talk about whether the president is winning or losing here. they'll simply say what the president is most concerned about is helping hard-working americans hang on to their money. so, they're not concerned about, you know, whether or not his numbers are up or down. for those who watch this. the white house says the president has always been working very hard behind the scenes and sometimes picking up the phone, as he did yesterday, and talking to john boehner directly, but, still, republicans saying, look, he hasn't been doing enough to reach out to them. but, as you pointed out, he did go shopping yesterday.

picking up some presents not only for the first pet, but for the first daughters. >> he's kind of home alone with the dog right now and just kind of waiting on the congress and the house to make a move right now. dan lothian, a lot coming up the next couple hours. the president coming up at 12:15, as you mentioned, as well. a lot more to talk to dan about and, as always, that event coming up in the noon eastern hour. we'll certainly have it for you here on cnn. at five minutes past the hour, we need to turn to iraq. new concerns about the future of that country just days after the last american troops pull out. a wave of bombings has killed at least 63 people, wounded another 200. the explosions come after an arrest warrant. was issued for the country's vice president. arwa damon. people were back here seeing those pictures and seeing the

american troops coming home and you were quick to say there was turmoil still in iraq. >> you, also quick to remind everyone that even the war may have been over for the u.s., it certainly is not for the iraqis and the violence today is really creating a nightmare scenario for this nation because it comes as you were mentioning there briefly, it seems that the government is collapsing like a house of cards. the explosions, the violence that took place here earlier this morning, 16 explosions, t.j. all of them happening within two hours during rush hour. targeting mostly civilians. one of the bombs went off just outside a school as children were arriving and others in marketplaces and crowded intersecs. no claim of responsibility just yet, but this restirring many fears amongst people about the stability of their country and the capabilities of the iraqi security forces. that coupled with the political

instability here what kind of america the u.s. has really left behind, t.j.? >> this sectarian strife, yeah, the vice president. an arrest warrant for him on some kind of a terrorism charge. what is that doing? one thing to have some political back and forth, it's a young democracy and we get that, but, still, now, the vice president being accused of these types of charges. what is that lending to this situation? >> the gravity of those charges and the potential implications we cannot stress just how serious all of this is. what's happened is that the iraqi government is accusing the sunni vice president of being involved in acts of terror. effectively running hit squads. they aired these confessions on state television. the vice president is now up in the semia tonmist section of kurdistan being protected by the kurds. they're demanding that the

kurdish authorities hand him over to central iraq. they, at this point, are not doing that. he, the vice president are willing to stay on trial and he wants it to happen in a crucial area. all of this is polarizing the government to such a degree that many are questioning whether or not the various political leaders will be able to dial back from the edge of this ab s abyss. >> our arwa damon with the update on the violent day in iraq. thank you so much. well, we are just passing eight minutes past the hour now and with ron paul leading in a new iowa poll, the presidential candidate is now facing runenew questions about racially inflammatory writings. these writings were published during the 1980s and '90s. they appeared but they rarely carried a by line. newt republic coverrepublic cov.

also, other news organizations from "new york times" to cnn have come up with new details. what we have uncovered are items like this from a 1992 news letter shortly after the l.a. riots and this one titled special issue on racial criticism. order was only restored in l.a. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks. in fact order was, as you know, was restored when the national guard moved in. also two years earlier, before that, in another ron paul publication, an article criticized president reagan for assigning the martin luther king jr. holiday. this line read, "we can thank him for our annual hate whitey day." in 1996 when paul was running for congress, democrats dug up other passages from his news letters that he did not deny at the time writing. talking about the crime in

washington, again, i quote, "given the inefficiencies of what d.c. laughingly calls the criminal justice system, i think we can safely assume that 95% of black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal." ron paul defended himself yesterday talking to our gloria bordure. listen. >> so you read them but never did anything about it at the time. >> i was probably aware of it ten years after it was written and it has been going on for 20 years that people pestered me about this and cnn does every single time. when are you going to wear yourself out? >> you know, is it legitimate? is it a legitimate question to ask? >> when you get the answers, legitimate that you sort of take the answers i give. you know what the answer is? i didn't write them, i didn't read them at the time and i

disavowed them. that's the answer. >> you made money off of them. >> if you knew i made money on it. you know more about my finances than i do. >> do you know that you didn't? >> i don't even know what you're talking about. i mean, you know, if it was published for ten years, so, if that was 1% of all the news letter i made money off of, you know, talking about gold stocks. i think you're confused on that. >> okay. just a question. i mean, it's legitimate. it's legitimate. these things are pretty incendiary. >> only because of people like you. >> no, no, no, come on. some of the stuff was very incendiary and saying in 1993 the israelis were responsible for the bombing of the world trade center and that kind of stuff. >> well, ron paul, again, several years ago did not deny some of the writings. again, didn't appear with a bye

line necessarily, but today saying he did not write any of that stuff even though his spokesman did say he took moral responsibility for those being published in a news letter that had his name. next hour we'll talk more about this and other things political with our political analyst and a reminder for all the latest political news, you know the spot, cnnpolitics.com. let me turn now to a good friend. reynolds wolf. people trying to get home for the holidays. little tricky for some. >> it's going to be tough for a lot of people that are going to try to fly and some people who are going to drive. whatever poison you choose, it could be poison, especially in parts of colorado. live reports talking to reporters very close to the airport in denver, colorado. today, they're dealing with a big mess. not just the snow, but the wind, 30 to 35-mile-per-hour wind gusts and quite a bit of snow on the ground, three to five inches. publo four to eight.

we've got 30 to 35 and some approaching 45 and maybe even 50 before the afternoon is over anywhere up to six inches to a foot in the highest elevations. now, another big issue we have. chance of storms developing across the southeast. alabama into portions of georgia, even atlanta for that matter and into mississippi and into new orleans. you have a chance of strong thunderstorms, tornadoes, damaging winds and even large hail into the afternoon and the backups, yes, we're going to have quite a few of those. in atlanta, cincinnati, memphis, and even into houston and charlotte you might have delays due to the showers and major delays as you wrap it up in denver. no surprise, there would be snow. >> thank you, kind sir. we'll see reynolds coming up soon. 13 minutes past the hour and take a look and listen. citizens protesting in syria and the government launches a brutal crackdown. now some arab neighbors are stepping in. that story straight ahead.

also, two sailors making history in virginia with this kiss. sharing the coveted first kiss after one of them returned from sea. [ mujahid ] there was a little bit of trepidation, not quite knowing what the next phase was going to be,

you know, because you been, you know, this is what you had been doing. you know, working, working, working, working, working, working. and now you're talking about, well you know, i won't be, and i get the chance to spend more time with my wife and my kids. it's my world. that's my world. ♪ it's easy to see what subaru owners care about. that's why we created the share the love event. get a great deal on a new subaru and $250 goes to your choice of 5 charities. with your help, we can reach $20 million dollars by the end of this, our fourth year.

your look now at some stories making news across country. walmart has recalled cans of baby formula after a 10-day-old baby in missouri died from a rare bacterial infection. enfamil is testing the formula, the water used to make it and other items. "sports illustrated" fans

voted eric lagrand as the best moment of 2011. the first time the magazine let fans to choose and first rutgers athlete to appear on the cover. he was paralyzed in a football game in 2010. he led his team on to the field before a game in october. in virginia, a kiss for the history books is what you're seeing right there. two female sailors became the u.s. navy's first gay couple chosen to kiss first after a ship's return. the crew of the dock landing ship "oak hill" and their loved ones bought raffle tickts for the opportunity and they won. 17 minutes past the hour. want to turn back overseas this time to syria that has now closed its borders to journalists. protesters trying to topple the regime and videos posted online claim that troops have retaliated with widespread

attacks on civilians. today, the arab league is responding to the international outcry in dispatching monitors to report on the abuses. let me bring in cnn's leoni. what are these monitors supposed to help? can they help? >> t.j., the team that is going in today is an advance team of about ten people and what they're doing is paving the way for a broader observer mission that will consist of about 100 officials and their task is to gauge the situation on the ground and really look at what the military there is doing. now, there's a lot of questions about how effective they will be because they will be supervised when they're on the ground. there's also questions about the makeup of this mission. and, also, t.j., this is part of a broader initiative in which syria has been asked to stop the violence, withdraw military troops from residential areas and release detainees and they

haven't agreed to do any of that. as you mentioned, the violence is continuing. the u.n.'s latest figure is at about 5,000, but activists keep reporting that the violence continues on a daily basis, t.j. >> this comes after we just saw new, recent actions there. what is the timeline, tell me quickly, for these monitors. this was the advance team, but when is that larger teams supposed to get in there? >> the advance team will be there for 24 to 48 hours. we don't know the exact date of when the other mission gets in, but that observer mission will be in for about a month, t.j. >> leone, thank you for the update from abu dhabi for us. we'll get back to politics in this country. the politics of that payroll tax dispute. our contributors will cain and l.z. granderson joining us to talk about the fight and your frustration. also, get ready for a white christmas. a betty white christmas.

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and a week and a half your paycheck is going to get smaller, don't you worry, congress is on the case. actually, congress is not really on the case because congress went home for the holidays with no deal on extending the payroll tax cut and jobless benefits. the bickering has folks frustrated from coast to coast. no bickering right now, though, with our cnn contributors will cain and l.z. granderson. they are both with us now. quickly, guys.

we're going back and forth. i'll start with you this time, will. there is no way, no way they're going to allow this to go through. they're not going to allow our taxes to go up, they can't do that. >> you wouldn't think so. you think they'll work out a deal before christmas, if not shortly after the new year. they're going to extend the payroll tax cut. >> simple as that. we see that and going through this exercise right now, but there is no way. is that fair to say? >> i would say so. you know, it's really sad now that we keep doing this over and over again. it feels like groundshog day. but this is where we are at right now because of the 2012 election people can't make a basic decision. they want to make everything overly dramatic. >> what are we getting out of this exercise besides frustration with the american people and seeing congress to appear not to get something done and taking it right up to the last minute? >> i think we're seeing an exercise in 2012 politics. that's what we're seeing. everything is being positioned so that there's an argument to be made during the general

election about who's better for the american people. they're playing chicken with each other. both parties to blame. >> some people want to put the blame squarely on republicans. who will americans blame at the end of all this? let's say they'll save it and make sure people's taxes don't go up. still, american s -- >> i think this will land on the shoulders of the republican party because they can't agree on a message about what the approach should be and the political message that gets out is now the republican party is opposing a tax cut, a tax cut for the middle class. are they only for tax cuts for the rich guys? again, t.j., that's politically what will come off that doesn't mean that's the truth. >> that's a good point there because that's all people know right now is that, wait a minute, there's a tax cut, but -- >> can i explain that, t.j.? >> yes. >> let me explain the should. the republican position on the economy should be, let me show

you something. i drew something a little prepared for this. let's pretend the economy is out in front of me. this is the mother board. these are the knobs and dials on dh econo the economy. low taxes, preferably. simple, understandable regulations and let the economy play out. that should be their position. now, the liberal position is, you can adjust these knobs and dials to even out the jagged line of progress as jeb bush wrote in "the wall street journal" the other day. a dial just like short-term stimulus, just like an $800 billion stimulus, just like a jobs bill and it's temporary and insufficient. that should have been the argument that republicans made. >> l.z, you have anything you want to show and tell? >> everything that we do is short term. okay. there's nothing that we can put in place that's going to last this country forever and ever. the idea that this is a short-term solution is a

misnomer. as the economy adjusts evolves. that's because of the global impact on our economy. so, both sides are going to have to do adjustments every couple years or so. this is nothing new. the thing that is really upsetting about this process right now is that the american people are the ones actually being the ping-pong ball itself. we're being paddled from one side to the other because we're not being concerned with what ultimately should be the best interest for us. it's all about the politicians and all about d.c. and the white house and not about the american people. >> all right, well, it seems a little late to get it done before christmas but your all's prediction, as i go here. they'll get the deal done before christmas or in the week before new year. will? >> in the week before new year. if you're pinning me down. this argument is tough. i had to draw a chart for you. much easier to draw people in and demagogue, middle class americans. >> l.z., next week? >> next week, yes. >> l.z., will, always good to

talk to you both. i know we'll see you plenty. >> i hope l.z. gets out of that hostage situation he's in. that video. >> he's skyping from home. it's his office, he's working. >> congress has me in hostage. >> there it is. guys, thanks. we'll talk to you both soon. coming up on the bottom of the hour and this payroll tax dispute really a roller coaster d for the economy. ♪

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will hit the road, weather permitting, of course. some weather issues out there. that number 84 million is an increase over last year. also in baghdad, been hit by a wave of coordinated attacks just days after u.s. troops left the country. a series of bombings killed more than 60 people and wounded 185. also, 12 million bottles of motrin are being pulled from store shelves. testing showed some caplets may not dissolve as quickly as they're supposed to near the expiration date. johnson & johnson says the pain relievers are safe, they don't need to be returned. all right, if you do crunch the numbers, the economy is ending 2011 on a bit of an upswing, but plenty of folks aren't necessarily feeling that way. alison kosik doesn't feel that way, necessarily. everybody has been frustrated, but the economy has had a frustrating year. >> you think about what happens

here on wall street on a daily basis and only a month ago that traders began walking up to me and saying, you know what, alison, investors are getting fed up with these markets this year and closing the books on 2011. any way you look at it, a frustrating year for the dmae and politicians and consumers are also more than ready to say good-bye. the recovery is slow. >> at a rate that is both uneven across sectors and frustrating slow -- >> reporter: congress deadlocked. >> a house cannot pass a bill that raises taxes on job creators. >> all 53 of us have informed the speaker that his legislation was doomed in the senate. >> reporter: europe a mess. and wall street occupied. the u.s. economy actually grew in 2011, but barely. >> even as economic growth continues, we continue to face very substantial economic challenges. >> reporter: challenges like the housing market, home prices dropped about 4% and jobs, over

13 million americans are still out of work. politicians and business leaders search for solutions. >> pass this bill. >> pass this job's bill. >> i think a balanced approach, ultimately, is what most business people, most ceos would like to see. >> we, too, have to do something. >> reporter: it's been a frustrating year for the u.s. economy, but it could have been worse, it could have been europe. debt crises threatened the economies of greece, italy, spain and others leaving leaders scrambling to hold the eurozone together and save the common currency. the u.s. investors holding their breath. 2011 started with big gain games for stock. the dow soared past 12,000 holding its own while governments toppled in tunisia, egypt and libya. and then japan, the devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster threatened our fragile recovery. over the summer, congress' debt ceiling stalemate pulled the rug

out from under the market. >> we have a spending problem. >> a lot of crises in the world that we can't always predict or avoid. >> reporter: the dow dropped 512 points on august 4th, another 630 plus points on august 8th as s&p downgraded its rating on the united states that left investors dizzy. americans angry. some took to the streets, a fight for financial fairness began in september here in new york's zuccotti park and spread across the country. many sought retail therapy. the biggest black friday and cybermonday on record. the dow has a chance to end the year in positive territory, call it a little christmas cheer at the end of an economic year to forget. okay, so, what's in store for the economy next year? well, economists are predicting slow growth to continue. the crisis in europe, that's expected to continue to be a major concern but some positive indicators in recent weeks, t.j., specifically on jobs and

housing and if, if some of those trends improve and 2012, believe it or not, has a chance of being a little better than 2011, we can only hope. >> we'll take that. i like the ifs you threw in there. how is wall street? what are we expecting? >> starting off in the green. modest gains. dr the lowest level in 3 1/2 years. they only fell about 4,000, but wall street expected an increase. so, that's some good news on the jobs front and shows fewer layoffs and possibly new hiring. we also learned, t.j., the hiring, the growth is still weak. gdp was revised to 1.8%, not necessarily the greatest news on that front but wall street right now shrugging that off. we'll see what happens as we go through the day. t.j.? >> alison kosik, thank you, as always. we're 34 minutes past the hour. legendary actress betty white is ready for some football.

tell you what she'll be up to on monday night. and a little later, they are out of the war zone, 300 soldiers back home just in time for the holidays. yeah, i'd like that. who are you talking to? uh, it's jake from state farm. sounds like a really good deal. jake from state farm at three in the morning. who is this? it's jake from state farm. what are you wearing, jake from state farm? [ jake ] uh... khakis. she sounds hideous. well she's a guy, so... [ male announcer ] another reason more people stay with state farm. get to a better state. ♪ mmm... pillsbury crescent wrapped brie just unroll, wrap the brie and bake. it's so easy. now this might even impress aunt martha. pillsbury crescent wrapped brie. holiday ideas made easy.

it is what everybody's dreaming of, right? not just a white christmas, but a betty white christmas. let me bring in "showbiz

tonight" kareen wynter in l.a. and betty white. this ought to be good. >> i love that play on words. betty white christmas, i love it. well, you know, betty, she's up for a little football, you know how espn, t.j., opens monday night football with a celebrity football star and next monday that celebrity will be betty white. you know the 89-year-old actress can do anything, that includes, t.j., kicking off an nfl game, after all, it was a super bowl career that helped launch her career renaissance. her popularity is as strong as ever. a televised 90th birthday party for white next month and the guest list will include co-stars from "mary tyler moore" show and ed asner and stars like carol burnett, jay leno, hugh jackman and her co-stars from "hot in cleveland." the show will air january 16th,

the day before white turns 90. i just hope we're doing that well, t.j., you and i when we turn 90. white shows snow signs of slowing down. good for her. >> 90 years old and to see her -- it's weird to see her career taking off. >> it's impressive. >> very impressive. i got a mariah carey note here i'm supposed to go to next. is that where we're going? >> we're talking about mariah carey and her babies. her new christmas video may feature john legend, but in my mind, the video stars are her twins that are making their big music video debut and we have a treat for you. take a look at her singing with "when christmas comes" with her beautiful family. ♪ get together it's going to be so nice ♪ ♪ better than ever

>> makes you want to say, awww. there's moroccan and monroe and only eight months old but ready to follow in mom and dad's footsteps. she does christmas song still well. her version of "all i want for christmas" is still a huge hit every year. their nickname roc and roll. >> is that what you said? >> moroccan, monroe. roc, roe, get it? >> kareen wynter, always good to talk to you. thanks so much. next hour, an interview that might change the way you think about actor and comedian will ferrell. he's talking with our alina cho for our christmas special. she'll be along with a preview of that. also, coming up, meeting a new family member for the first time. look at this. >> what do you guys think here?

>> absolutely beautiful. >> and it's not that simple, though. you will see the remarkable journey these dogs have to take to find a new home. i can't figure out what to get for my husband. easy. name some things that aren't on your list. jumper cables, camo anything, a power drill -- ooh! [ male announcer ] the only place to go for every guy on your christmas list with great deals throughout the store. walmart. okay... uhh. the bad news, it's probably totaled. the good news is, you don't have to pay your deductible. with vanishing deductible from nationwide insurance, you got $100 off for every year of safe driving, so now your deductible is zero. the other good news ? i held on to your coffee. wow. ♪ nationwide is on your side ( laughing )

it's actually a pretty good day when you consider. that's great.

well, pilot mike young has made it his mission to help more than 100 rescue dogs who are in need of a new home, but not in a way that you may be thinking. we meet his very special cargo. >> my dog's name was conan. he was a german shepherd. we paid good money to have the cancer treated, he responded well to the chemo but his kidneys failed. that's ultimately why we had to put him to sleep. now i'm on pilot and pause, which is a website that people have dogs that have to be transport transported and they have dogs to move from point a to point b

and look at e-mail and i scan through them to see if there are any rescue flights within my area that i can do. >> save some more dogs. >> it's okay, bo. >> they actually look like they know they're about to be saved. e they always know that they're going to be going. >> bo seems to want to be in the back seat. he just managed to get to the front. transportding dogs is one of the most important steps in saving dogs. you have to move them from rural areas, typically, to more urban areas where there's a higher possibility that they're going to get rescued.

>> here you go. >> he's beautiful. >> hi, sweetie. >> what do you guys think of your new addition to your family? >> absolutely beautiful. we love her. >> you look into the new owner's eyes, for the first time they're going to get to hold their dog. you want to hold her, buddy? just hold their dog like they had it forever. you know that dog is going to have a good life. >> thank you, sir. have a merry christmas and a happy new year and thank you. you actually made our christmas. >> so, how could i not spend my time and money giving to these dogs? giving the owners of these new dogs the opportunity to have the love that i have for these dogs and, really, that's what it is all about. and you can see cnn's giving in focus special at 4:30 eastern time christmas day hosted by our own tom foreman.

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[ boy ] dad! [ male announcer ] from fathers to sons, chevy runs deep. all right. ten minutes to the top of the hour and give you a look at some stories making news across country. take a listen and look at this. ♪ it's a swell time

>> okay, i know, maybe you thought these were just your everyday carollers but these were in penn brook pines, florida, this is outside the office of debbie wasserman schultz. frosty the jailorman. they're angry about building a prison in the community. also in new york now, you've got to hear this one. the most expensive apartment in manhattan ever has now been sold at a price tag of $88 million. it was bought by a millionaire. excuse me, a billion air. a russian billion air. get this, he didn't buy it for himself. he bought it for his daughter. a 22-year-old young woman is going to be living in new york in the most expensive apartment ever. it covers the length of a city block. has ten rooms, ten wood burning

fireplaces, and i am in search of a new friend. also in fort knox, kentucky, solders returning home she's excited there. they spent the year in afghanistan. a lot of these homecomings we've been seeing. they're all just as touching as the last. we'll be following a lot of developments in the next hour. let's hear from our correspondents. kate bolduan. >> t.j., will they get a deal? that is the question so many americans are asking. we'll be hearing from house speaker john boehner in the next hour. >> i'm george howell in atlanta. it has now been more than a month since drum major robert champion was killed in a hazing-related incident. still no arrests. we turn to a law enforcement expert to explain why it's taking so long. that story coming up at the top of the hour. >> i'm cnn meterologist. the chance of severe weather in

the southeast. we have an area shaded in parts of mississippi, back in louisiana. a tornado watch will be in effect until 1:00 eastern time. >> we will see you all in a moment. thank you all. ahead, the best videos of the year? you've got to see this. 25 or more of them? do you have a financial plan for you family that works, in good times and in bad times? having the right perspective can help you answer the big questions. for more than 140 years, pacific life has helped find answers for those navigating the path to financial security. ask a financial professional about pacific life - the power to help you succeed.

did you hear sam... ...got promoted to director? so 12 seconds ago. we should get him a present. thanks for the gift basket. you're welcome. you're welcome. did you see hr just sent out new... ...office rules? cause you're currently in violation of 6 of them. oh yeah, baby? ...and 7. did you guys hear that fred is leaving? so 30 seconds ago. [ noisemakers blow ] [ both ] we'll miss you! oh, facecake! there's some leftover cake. [ male announcer ] the new htc vivid. stay a step ahead with at&t 4g lte, with speeds up to 10x faster than 3g. ♪

all right. i know up' been waiting.

nba, the season actually finally kicks off christmas day. here we go. we already have a problem. >> well, yeah. it's not the best of days right now for kobe bryant, the lakers star. we know he's getting a divorce. he thought he'd have all-star chris paul as a teammate. the commissioner blocked the deal. he has a torn ligament in his wrist. it happened in monday night's preseason game. the final warmup before the regular season starts on christmas. watch blake. he is outstanding. i know it's preseason. it's a short one because of the lockout. look at chris paul and blake griffin. those two together are going to be fantastic. there's griffin again. the clippers beat the lakers again. who's the best team in l.a.? i thought so. the season starts christmas day. college hoops, watch tar heels freshman p.j. harris stop.

texas has won the last four meetings between these teams. not this time. they roll 82-63. college football tcu taking on low we see anna bowl. you make the call. louisiana tech's pat ton keeps a foot inbounds. touchdown. he made a better play before the game. he and a teammate donated their bowl gifts. $300 gift cards. sky dawson, 41 yard touchdown. they win 31-24. nhl, watch this. leaving the ice after the first period. flyers coach, impatient man, wants to get by stars enforcer and gives a shove. he called the coach later arrogant. the flyers took over. a goal, three assists. his first game back from a concussion. flyers won 4-1. the coach may have to answer to

the league for a push. he's setting an example for the team, right? >> that push might get him in trouble? >> you have to behave. you're representing the league. >> they let them fight on the ice. >> if it's anything, its a he a little slap on the wrist. >> appreciate it as always. thanks so much, my man. they are apparently the videos you watched most this year. jean any moose with a look back. >> reporter: the thing about youtube videos is that some you get, and some seem like gibberish. for instance, in this year's top ten most viewed videos, the number five spot went to a very annoying cat. the number ten spot went to a very adorable cat. a mother cat hugging its kitten while the two of them take a cat nap. the number nine video was volts wagon's super bowl commercial called the force.

number eight was a cute 11-year-old canadian singing lady ga ga's hit. lady gaga was so impressed she invited her to sing a duet in concert. number seven was a dance comedy video. youtube is the place if you want people to -- at least 56 million people looked at the twin talking babies who seem to understand each other perfectly. adults enjoyed adding subtitles and nominating them for best foreign language film. comedy music videos were popular. and we might as well acknowledge the number one video that got over 180 million views. ♪ it's friday night >> reporter: okay. that's enough acknowledgment.

it's the video that came in at number two that's number one in my heart. since it's my story, that's the one we're going to concentrate on. >> know what the meet drawer is, right? >> yeah. >> reporter: there is just something riveting about the talking dog being teased. >> you know that bacon that's like maple? it's got maple flaf vorg. >> the maple kind, yeah. >> i took that out and i thought, i know who would like that. me. so i ate it. >> oh. >> it looks like he's getting his hopes up and they're dashed. >> reporter: former ad agency guy now makes a living creating and voicing talking animals. people submit thousands of videos and he adds the dialogue. >> please. >> wow. >> reporter: andrew wouldn't say how much his advertising partnership with youtube pays, but clark the dog now has a facebook fan page with a joke bacon tree and a bacon t-shirt.

if you're wondering. >> you kicked me. >> reporter: what he really said in dog speak. in dog speak. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com working americans, all eyes on congress. the calendar and the clock. we have 9 days to go and congress has that much time to extend the payroll tax cut or your paycheck is going to be a little smaller come beginning of the year. here's an idea of how much we're talking about. if you make $35,000 a year, you're going to see about $700 gone next year. if you're on the higher end, making $110,000 we're talking about $2300 and you see the scale there where you end up in between those two salary ranges. still, about 150 plus million people are going to see their taxes go up if congress does not act.

public anger growing. election year is looming. debate is turning into a blame game between republicans and democrats. we have kate bolduan with us now. dan lothian at the white house. dan, i'll start with you. i need to remind our viewers, you too as well, i might have to jump in there. we're standing by to hear from speaker boehner. he's expected to take some questions. when he steps to that podium, a really important player in this whole process right now, we will certainly listen to him. dan, let me start with you and the president today, we're expecting to hear from him? >> reporter: that's right. this is yet another part of the overall strategy to put the pressure on house republicans to go ahead and pass this short-term extension deal that was forged in the senate and then work on a longer deal, that one-year deal later. you've seen from this white house the president coming into the briefing room to put pressure on congress. they've appealed to the public via their blog and twitter to

send in what losing $40 in a paycheck would mean to you. today the president just shortly after noon will be appearing here at the white house. alongside him will be ordinary americans the white house says who will talk about what losing that 4$40 will mean to them. some have weighed in on line. this is the white house effort to show that this fight that's going on here in washington right now has some real consequences that middle class americans will be impacted and the economy that's struggling but showing signs of recovery could be impacted. >> stay with me, dan. kate, let me bring you in here. we saw the video yesterday of the president going shopping. of course, it's the holidays. he needs to do some christmas shopping for the girls, that's fine, but it also seemed to be a sign to a lot of people that he is literally right now waiting around. he's home alone with the dog. his family's already gone on vacation and so he's waiting for congress to make a move or the

leaders in the house, rather, to make a move. so what work, kate, is being done to get some kind of conclusion to this? >> reporter: at the moment quite honestly it's more a wharf words and kind of another type of pressure campaign as dan was talking about on the part up here. there isn't a lot of negotiating going on or really any negotiating at all because both sides, house republicans and senate democrats, you can say there are also some senate republicans on the side of senate democrats here, their positions are pretty well known. they're pretty well dug in at the moment as neither side seems ready to budge. we're waiting here obviously, t.j., to hear from house speaker john boehner. the key player at the moment. all eyes trying to see what move he'll make, if he will make a move. we're told at this press conference we're likely to hear the similar message we have heard from him yesterday. he'll be up there with the eight house members that he has appointed to a conference committee that he says is the way to go to hash out the

differences between the house and the senate on the way forward on this payroll tax cut. he's likely to say what he said yesterday in terms of we're here, we're ready to work, that house republicans oppose this two-month extension that passed with bipartisan support in the senate because they believe it does not provide the certainty that americans, and specifically businesses, need in terms of tax policy. they don't like this kind of patchwork quick fix kicking the can down the road policy. they say they're standing firm on that. >> nine days until people's checks get smaller. you're telling me we're going to hear more of the same. that gets us nowhere. dan, i want you to listen to something, our viewers to listen to something from senator john mccain. something he told cnn this morning going after the president and the president's, what he calls lack of leadership. listen. >> is it really fair to put as much heat as you're putting on the president on this one? a lot of eyes are pointing to house republican leadership right now as being intransigent.

>> i think that that is legitimate to an extent, but i also think that in times like these in the past four presidents that i've served under, they have exerted a lot more leadership than going shopping. by the way, i also feel that in the upcoming election, which is less than a year from now, no incumbent is safe nor should they be. >> okay. so, dan, he wants to put some responsibility at the feet of the president, but a lot of people right now hold one house, one body of congress, and actually one party responsible, and that's republicans. is the president, the white house, comfortable with how this is playing out? they don't want taxes to go up, sure, but politically the way this is playing out, are they pleased? >> reporter: well, they tend not to want to publicly admit that they're pleased how this is playing out. they say the president is more concerned making sure that middle class americans are protected during a difficult

economic time. privately they realize that the president, at least they believe, is looking good here, that house republicans are the ones who are coming out of this not looking good in the eyes of the -- >> excuse me, here. dan, i'm sorry. we see speaker be eer boehner. >> i urged him to call on senator reid to work with us to finish this bill that will provide for one year of tax relief for americans workers. i told the president there's one big reason why we need to do a full year, and that's jobs. a one-year bill, like the president requested and like the house produced is simply better for jobs and better for our economy. a one-year bill provides on average about $1,000 for american workers as opposed to the senate bill which would provide a measley $166. as importantly, a one-year bill

would provide certainty for american employers as they begin to plan for next year. two-month extension only perpetuates the uncertainty that too many employers already have in dealing with the economy and what's coming out of washington. listen, i used to run a small business. i can tell you that the language in the senate bill will hurt small businesses. the senate only goes for two months, but businesses send their taxes in, write the check. i used to write the check to the irs. it's done on a quarterly basis. you're going to have a couple of months at this, another month at this trying to figure out what your obligation is, it's going to be difficult. secondly, the paperwork requirements and the programming requirements contained in the senate bill will make it virtually impossible for those who provide payroll services to

do the job that employers hire them to do. the fact is, we can do better. americans are still asking the question, where are the jobs. it's time for us to sit down and have a serious negotiation, solve this problem so that american workers don't see their taxes go up in january. >> good morning. as the speaker said, it is our position that we want to make sure we provide some certainty to the working people of this country that their taxes are not going to go up for an entire year. unfortunately, that view, although it is shared, is not being implemented or proposed to be implemented by the senate proposal. we're here and we want to solve the problem. frankly, given where the parties are, there's not a big difference between our positions. it all comes down to the paid for, it's the budgetary impact of the extension of this tax holiday. i saw the president out yesterday doing his christmas shopping. i saw he brought his dog with

him. you know, we're here. he could bring his dog up here. we are pet friendly. you know, again, it will not take a long time. we could probably resolve the differences within an hour. that's why we're here to say, let's do this, as the speaker said. let's avoid anymore uncertainty. let's try to avoid another one of these difficult moments within 60 days so we can get on about the business of putting in place factors for better economy and job creation. >> good morning. employers are telling us that this convoluted mechanism the senate cooked up in a rush to get out of town doesn't work. we think we should listen to our employers. the democrats failed to do that in the health care bill, and that's howie ended up with that burdensome 1099 provision that we had to repeal and we did so in a bipartisan way. people in my district are working this week. they're working next week. we think we should be doing that in congress. we have the time.

let's get this issue right for the sake of our economy, for the sake of our job creators, and for the sake of our country and the american worker. thank you. >> hello. rene elmers -- >> we're hearing it there. i believe as i bring back in dan lothian, kate bolduan, i believe you all could hear that. speaker boehner, as you were saying a moment ago to me, kate, we were going to hear more of the same today. that's what we were expecting. here we are nine days before this tax holiday ends and people's taxes go up, checks get smaller, and we are still or they are still dug in. so what's up there on the hill? what is even possible right now, kate? we're running out of time to even get a conference committee in place and to get all of this legislation in place in time even. so what is even possible? >> reporter: they are running out of time. what we're seeing here is kind of political positioning. there are not talks going on as far as we know. they're not negotiating. house republicans are not

talking to senate democrats. senate democrats are not talking to house republicans. both sides say their position is known and they're waiting for the other side to blink. i'll tell you i would say more attention is on house speaker john boehner and house republicans as house republicans are facing far more criticism, especially now that it includes criticism from their fellow colleagues in the senate, senate republicans who simply say that house republicans have botched how they've handled this, policywise as well as politically. what we're seeing is we are seeing house speaker john boehner making the case why they are opposed to the two-month extension. we talked about that before. here's kind of the kicker. here's the important thing that everyone needs to realize. you hear house republicans saying we want a one-year deal. on the other side of the capitol in the senate, senate democratic leaders and senate republicans, they agree. they all want a one-year deal here. what they're arguing is they're

saying you have to push through this two-month extension in order to allow us time to negotiate this longer deal. negotiations had stalled to this point. there is still a lot of talking past each other, which is not a good indication that they're ready to come to the table. you mentioned the clock, t.j. it's important to keep an eye on that. the clock ma fers up here. when they're up against a deadline, as i've been saying, miracles can happen. it's not certain though how this is going to turn out. it looks like this is stretching into next week. >> and, dan, i'll let you wrap it for me here. it got a laugh out of a lot of us here in the studio. leader cantore talking about the video we saw of the president, had the dog with him. he said bring the dog to capitol hill, we're pet friendly. i assume we're not going to see that. that goes to that roll or the idea of what roll is the president playing now and how much of a role can he play when this seems like this is really in the hands of the house and the house leadership. >> reporter: that's right. you also heard john mccain

earlier make that same comment about the president out there shopping yesterday with his dog. to be fair, the president did reach out to john boehner by phone and also to harry reid before going out on that shopping trip. so the white house points out that the president has been very much engaged, but they also say that there are very few options here. there's nothing more that the president can do. it's really in the kourt of the house republicans. there was already a bipartisan deal in the senate. as kate has been pointing out, this is something that everyone agrees on, that there should be this one-year deal, but in order to get there you have to have a temporary, a two-month extension. so that's what the president is focused on hoping that up on the hill that house members can, indeed, make something happen here, although it's uncertain what they can do now. >> dan lothian, kate bolduan, thank you both. i know we'll check in again. we may see speaker boehner take a few questions. we'll listen in and bring some

more of that live to our viewers. several other members are making comments. i'm taking a look over my shoulder here. if he does start to take questions, we'll certainly let you listen in on that. reminder, we're expecting to hear the president a little after noon today eastern time. the president 12:15 eastern time going to make comments. we will have that for you as well. meanwhile, we'll get back to some presidential politics in a moment and something that happened some 20 years ago, 20 plus years ago still having an effect on ron paul who has been leading in some of the latest polls in iowa. some racial comments that he once took credit for, now he's saying it wasn't him and he's walking out on cnn over it. we'll explain. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of a pain free holiday.

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well, with ron paul leading a new iowa poll, the presidential candidate is facing renewed questions about racially inflammatory writings. writings that were published back in the '80s and '90s. they appeared in newsletters bearing paul's name. the liberal new republic covered this story three years ago. more recently that same reporter writing for the conservative weekly standard fleshed out even more details. we here at cnn as well as a number of other organizations, including "the new york times," have also fleshed out some new details. uncovered more items like this from a 1992 newsletter. special issue on terrorism. one line reads, and i quote, order was only restored in l.a. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks, end quote. order, as you may recall, was restored when the national guard moved in.

then two years earlier in another ron paul publication an article criticized president reagan for signing legislation approving the federal holiday of the federal martin luther holiday. quote, we can thank him for our annual hate whitey day end quote. in 1996 when paul was running for congress, there were other passages that he did not deny writing. talking about crime in washington. quoting again, given the inefficiencies of what d.c. laughingly calls the criminal yus tis system i think we can safely assume that 95% of black males in that city are semicriminal or entirely criminal, end quote. ron paul defending himself briefly yesterday to gloria boring gee. >> reporter: so you read them but you didn't do anything about it at the time? >> i never read that stuff. i was probably aware of it ten years after it was written. it's been going on 20 years that

people have pestered me about this and cnn does it every single time. >> reporter: wouldn't you say it's -- is it legitimate? is it a legitimate question to ask? >> yeah. when you get the answer, it's legitimate that you sort of take the answers i give. you know what the answer is, i didn't write them. i didn't read them at the time and i disavow them. that is the answer. >> reporter: but you made money off of it? >> if you know i made money on it, you know more about my finances than i do. >> reporter: do you know that you didn't? i mean -- >> i don't even know what you're talking about. i mean, you know, if it was published for ten years, so if that was 1% of all the newsletter i made money off, you know, talking about gold stocks, i think you're really confused on that. >> reporter: okay. well, it's just a question. i mean, it's legitimate. it's legitimate. these things are pretty incendiary. >> because of people like you.

>> reporter: no, no, no. come on. some of this stuff was very insen depreid he deair ri sayin 1993 the israel lis were responsible for the bombing of the world trade center. >> good-bye. >> with me now patricia murphy and our cnn contributor will cain. we were talking in the commercial break, it's hard to defend some of these writings, but the mistake he might have made was to walk out on the interview and that's gotten so much attention now. >> yeah. i think he definitely has two sets of problems. first are the original writings, which i have heard him denounce before. i've seen him answer this question a lot more effectively. what he did yesterday with gloria borger is create another story where he didn't need to. it was in effect an unforced error. what he's done is bring more attention to the situation, bring more people to read the newsletters and to know more about what was said in them than he needed to. this is a situation he needs to defend, he needs to denounce,

and he needs to be much more effective because the writings are so offensive. i think that he made a bad situation much worse than it needed to be. >> will, do you agree with that, maybe he should have stood up, answered the questions but, again, kind of created this buzz with that spectacle in front of a camera? >> definitely he handled it poorly. definitely he got testy with gloria. i can't believe he took off his mic and walked away. you know what's interesting to both of you guys is we kind of are working under the assumption that had ron paul handled this perfectly, had he, you know, strongly condemned them, given us a strong explanation for how this happened, then we could look past it. i think that's interesting, why. these are extremely inflammatory newsletters. i like a lot of things about ron paul. i have no desire to criticize him. i think it's odd we're assuming if he handled this perfectly that somehow we could get past this. >> will makes a good point there, patricia. i get what you're saying. the story was going to be out

there and he'd have to answer this. some of this stuff that was written, is it enough? is that enough of an answer or even an apology, patricia, for him to say i didn't write it even though it was my newsletter. i take more responsibility. these things are pretty damning. >> they're very damning. he does need to apologize. i don't mean to say nobody would care about it, but i think he needs to own it and defend himself and reiterate he didn't write thes and didn't know about them. the only thing that is keeping ron paul in less trouble than he could be in is, frankly, we're getting into the christmas holidays. people are not paying attention as much. ron paul supporters feel like they know him. this will come as no surprise to many, many of the people who feel like they know ron paul and they won't believe something that the media says even if what they're saying is true. i think he is going to be in less trouble than some other candidates. it is why the republican party has always considered him a fringe candidate. >> will, 30 seconds here. what's the effect on iowa? >> the effect on iowa. i have to think this does catch

up on him eventually. i'm only following logic where it goes. i was a small publishers of newspapers in texas. had this happened one time and he says i didn't write it, somebody else wrote it, i didn't read it, i could understand that. it happened multiple times f. it happened once and somebody drew your attention to it? it's odd. >> you don't buy it, will? >> i'm just having trouble rationalizing it. this is coming from the perspective of someone who likes a lot of the substance that ron paul espouses. ron paul fans are some of the most ard dent out there. they'll hate some of these things. you can't hate rational lieization. explain this. >> will, patricia, thank you both. we'll see you all again. can't get enough of you. 20 minutes away for the political buzz. among the topics, tim tebow more popular than any republican running for the white house right now. not that surprising, i guess. we'll see you both here in 20 minutes. also coming up, take a look and listen.

>> it's just such tight confines in here. to have to walk from the front to the back of the bus with people just beating the hell out of you. what must he have gone through? >> retracing robert champion's last steps. we'll have the latest in the florida a&m hazing investigation. and how much the people in your life count on you. that's why we offer accident forgiveness, man: good job. where your price won't increase due to your first accident. we also offer a hassle-free lifetime repair guarantee, where the repairs made on your car are guaranteed for life or they're on us. these are just two of the valuable features you can expect from liberty mutual. plus, when you insure both your home and car with us, it could save you time and money. at liberty mutual, we help you move on with your life. so get the insurance responsible drivers like you deserve.

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as we come up on the bottom of the hour now, the full autopsy results have been released for florida a&m student robert champion. experts tell cnn the drum major had severe muscle damage, the type of stuff you usually see in a car accident, child abuse, or even torture. our george howell following this

investigation into champion's death and the beating that caused it. he had injuries similar to what you see in torture? >> t.j., this is a very complicated case because there are potentially a lot of people who saw something. we know for a fact that there were at least 30 people on the bus when champion was beaten. so we turned to a law enforcement expert who understands complex cases like this to get a better understanding of the questions police are asking to find out who did this. >> reporter: it happened on a tour bus parked outside an orlando hotel november 19th. florida a&m drum major robert champion died after a vicious beating. investigators say it was a homicide that resulted from hazing. >> you look at a bus like this. the narrow aisles, the seats so close together, the ceiling. it's just such tight confines in here, and to have to walk from the front to the back of the bus with people just beating the held out of you. what must he have gone through? >> reporter: we turned to hln

law enforcement analyst, mike brooks, to take us into the minds of investigators trying to piece together what happened to the 26-year-old victim before someone placed this 911 call. >> is he breathing? >> we don't know if he's breathing or not. we need an ambulance asap. >> i have help on the way already. >> reporter: how do you determine culpability? >> great question. i want to know who was delivering the blows, the serious blows? was there one person who delivered the most blows that may have caused his death? we don't know. were there other people who might not have been involved at all? >> reporter: band members who spoke to cnn say it may have been the result of a hazing ritual called crossing bus c where the victim walks backwards from the front of the bus to the back while being beaten repeatedly by fellow band members. >> reporter: investigators have their work cut out for them because they've got to interview everyone, but this bus is a crime scene. what happened? where did it happen on this bus

when he was being beaten with fists, maybe with musical instruments? those are things law enforcement has to find out exactly what happened. >> reporter: robert champion died of significant rapid blood loss due to blunt force trauma. according to the autopsy report, the victim of a severe beating. with so many possible witnesses on the bus -- >> i find it hard to believe that if that much was going on inside the bus, if they were beating him so viciously inside that bus, that somebody on the outside didn't hear something, didn't see something. >> reporter: brooks says it's a complicated investigation to determine exactly what happened in the moments leading up to robert champion's death. >> did anybody try to stop this? did anybody say, hey, he's had enough, he's had enough? knock it off? did that happen? >> reporter: only the people in that bus know. >> the next headline in this case will be when police make arrests. the florida department of law enforcement and the orlando sheriff's office both investigating this case, t.j. so far no arrests have been

made. >> okay. you said make arrests. it's a bus full of people beating this kid. you arrest the whole bus? >> there could potentially be 30 people arrested. you just don't know at this point. we know that there were at least 30 people who saw something, possibly those who participated. this case clearly a complicate the situation. >> and a couple other cases of hazing going on on the campus. >> another student, bria hunter, who claims she was beaten. there's an investigation into financial fraud at famu within the band. it's a very complex case mainly being looked over by the florida department of law enforcement. >> george howell, thank you so much. been following this case for us. bottom of the hour here. we're still learning more from the department of defense about the u.s. air strike last month. do you remember the one in pakistan that killed 24 pakistani soldiers. an investigation has found that u.s. soldiers were acting in self-defense and that miscommunication between both sides played a role. barbara starr on this case for

us. self-defense sounds like they were justified, but at the same time mistakes were made. >> reporter: well, that's right, t.j. self-defense because they thought they were under attack by insurgents, but it turned out there were no insurgents. there was no insurgent gunfire directed at u.s. forces. we have had the briefing and, you know, just right off the top let's play you a bit of sound with the official apology. have a listen. >> the loss of life and for the lack of proper coordination between u.s. and pakistani forces that contributed to those losses. we express our deepest regret. we further express sincere condolences to the pakistani people, to the pakistani government, and most importantly to the families of the pakistani soldiers who were killed or wounded. >> reporter: how did u.s. forces wind up killing 24 pakistani military? well, it was a complex fire fight in the middle of the night in a remote mountain area.

u.s. forces reported they were taking machine gunfire from a ridge line they thought was afghanistan. it turns out it was pakistan. there was a border post there. the u.s. didn't know about it. when they figured out part of what was going on, then they had poor communication with the pakistanis. they had wrong mapping information on the u.s. side so the information that they gave the pakistanis, the pakistanis thought it was all taking place 14 kilometers away. what you are talking about here is fundamental mistrust between both military forces when a fire fight emerged. nobody exactly is saying what was going on, where they were, and the communication simply got out of control by all accounts. error upon error escalated and this became a real tragedy that has resulted in very deep mistrust between both sides. so much mistrust that at this point the u.s. hasn't even fully briefed pakistan on the results

of this investigation, t.j. >> barbara starr with the update for us at the pentagon. thank you as always. as we get past the bottom of the hour now we'll turn back to presidential politics. republicans haven't settled on a candidate. a lot of people say they're not crazy about their candidates so far, but somebody they do like more than all of their republican choices, tim tebow. talking about that and other things in our political buzz segment. that is next. tissue box (whispering): he said nasal congestion... nyquil: i heard him. anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't.

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political buzz. your rapid fire look at the best political topics of the day. three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. playing today, democratic

strategist and daper, robert zimmerman. patricia murphy, citizen jane politics. cnn contributor, will cain. first question here, republicans seem to like tim tebow. they don't know who they necessarily like on the gop field, but they seem to like tebow. a new poll was put out there by the public policy polling. it shows he's viewed favorably, tebow is, by 68% of republicans. put that in perspective. none of the gop presidential candidates are seen positively by that many republicans. how do republicans, will, how do they find a tim tebow candidate that everybody seems to like? >> you don't find tim tebow is the problem, t.j. you certainly don't create them. the world is set against the tim tebows of the world. you could play a good five-minute long clip of football experts saying he'll never make it, he doesn't have what it makes. i'm no fan of tim tebow over and over and over. whether or not we're talking about this business that we're in right now, any business, or

politics, they're not found. they force their way in and then they get a legion of followers. same thing will happen in politics. eventually somebody will force their way in, somebody unorthodox. >> robert, so far who is that person that could become the tim tebow candidate? >> let me tell you, t.j. i can't think of a democrat who would score 68% or come near tim tebow's approval ratings. that's because tim tebow is above partisan politics. there should be causes and issues and people like tebow who should be above that. what defines him -- >> robert, i need you to stand by for a second. we are hearing from the democrat majority -- the democratic whip in the house. i'm told he's making comments. >> and 48 million americans, seniors on medicare, will have the security of having their

doctors available put at risk. we ought not to be creating that kind of uncertainty and anxiety among the american people. the stakes are too high to be arguing about politics and process. republicans contention that the two-month compromise somehow unworkable is simply untrue. if it were, we wouldn't see a new and desperate republican proposal today to settle on a three-month extension. speaker boehner, who just appeared here, says he and his members want a one-year extension. we want that too. now we offered a bill he talked about and the house passed a bill. he talks about regular order. that bill had no hearings in the ways and means committee. it was passed three days after it was introduced in the middle of december, just days ago.

but he expected, i suppose, the senate to take it home. they didn't. what did the senate do? they did what americans are asking us to do. they came together, reasoned together, and voted together, 89 senators came together and said we ought to pass a compromise and give us time to work out any differences that remain. every family in america understands that. take a breath, step back, let's see howie can get to where we want to be. that is a one-year extension and, yes, a two-year extension on the sgr. let's enact a bipartisan compromise, however, to eliminate uncertainty for american families and then get right to work on a one-year version, not wait until february. not walk away and hold off till the last minute. and let us not have a conference while we hold hostage 160

million americans with fear that their taxes will go up on january 1st. let us not hold hostage 48 million seniors who will fear that their doctors will not be available to them. let us not hold hostage 2.3 million americans who don't have a job, are looking for a job, want to work and have the fear that they won't have the resources to support themselves and help support their families. the american people are waiting. they're watching, closely and intently. there was a cartoon in the "washington post" today which said that speaker boehner said, you know, we didn't get 12 presents under the tree so i'm going to take away the two presents you got. mr. speaker, let's give them the two presents and let's work on getting the other ten presents.

that's what they want us to do. that's what the senate did. that's what almost everybody in this country, including "the wall street journal," says we ought to do, mr. speaker. now perhaps rush limbaugh and grover norquist don't think that's what we ought to do. the americans want us to do that. i am pleased to turn it over. sometimes you make an agreement on what you can agree on and continue to work on that what you can't work on. chris vanholland from maryland. >> thank you, mr. hoyer. thank all of you for joining us today. like you, i listened to the speaker of the house who was just at this podium a short time ago, and as i heard his remarks, it was very clear that he's not listening to the american people. just like the house republicans

did not listen to the american people when they threatened to have the united states default on its debts for the first time. >> all right. i'm going jump back in here and bring back in our political buzz players today. we're going to have these questions. this is happening right in the middle. robert, sorry i had to cut you off. we wanted to hear from the whip in the house. >> wise choice. >> wanted to hear from him. i'm going to bring you, patricia, in now. republicans, they can't win this fight. there's a lot of nuance and a lot to the fight and a lot in the legislation and the back and forth. what people understand, what they hear is that your taxes are going to go up if the republican leadership doesn't agree to something that's already been agreed to and they are the ones holding it up. is there any way they can win this argument? >> there is no way, zero way that house republicans at this point can win this argument. when they have lost the support

of the "wall street journal" editorial page, when 89 senators vote for this package and they say it's not good enough, they say it's nothing that they can live with. they are starting to look so intransigent they are making the 11% approval rating of congress look a little high. they have lost the argument on the message alone. they do have good points. they do have good reasons they could explain, but when you say let's take this to a conference committee, that does not put money in people's pockets. it doesn't put on a bumper sticker. they have lost the argument. they need to wrap this up, go home. >> go ahead. >> patricia, i think there's another issue here worth examining, and that is a good many of the house republicans don't believe in the payroll tax cut extension, don't believe in extending unemployment benefits. many have argued, like michele bachmann, one of the leaders of the tea party caucus, that unemployment benefits, in fact, are in fact wasted because people are using them to rip off the system or she's argued that payroll tax should not be

extended. that's another issue here. what the tea party has done is you night mainstream republicans with the president, with the democrats in opposition to what is really a reflection of their greed and hippocracy and their conduct on the issue. >> will, we're going through the exercise now. people are trying to get through the holidays. economy is tough enough. difficult financial times. they have to worry about next year and the taxes going up. will, you said next year they'll get this worked out. there's no way they'll allow this to happen january 1. what are we getting out of this exercise? >> i think so. first of all, robert's right. i told you this in the last hour, t.j., the appropriate message would have been what robert said. make a principle position against the payroll tax cut. explain why it's not something beneficial but instead they didn't play that card and they lost this political fight as patricia described. they have no way to win the political fight here. let me ask you this, if you have no way to win the fight, do you want it to drag on?

i think we all know the answer is no. we need to recognize the democratic party has an interest in extending the fight another two months up to the state of the union, a fight that they know president obama can win. republicans are opposed to a tax cut. look, steny hoyer said things we can agree on. two-month bill does not fix that. number two, they all want a year-long bill. why don't they come together -- number three, we should get to work. why don't they get to work right now? the house republicans have put a bill together. forget your christmas break. take a couple days. come back now or next week, senate, and put together a bill now. why do you have to work hard after the holidays. >> the senate is not coming back. the senate is not coming back. this is over for this year. the democrats have the republicans exactly where they want them. they are not going to give in to republicans at this point. if the republicans' point is that there should be more certainty in this process, were are they letting americans who are on unemployment benefits think they might not have checks

coming january 2nd? they are stepping on their own message. >> patricia, the reason for that is because, as i mentioned, the republicans in the house don't believe in the concept of unemployment benefits or extending the payroll tax cut. the bigger issue is, this is not a republican or democrat fight. these are 89 democrats and republicans in the senate, joining with the "wall street journal," joining with the house, demanding that there be a compromise and demanding that this be reconsidered in january. will, to your point, this is not an easy issue. if it was, it would have been done. it's going to take tough negotiations. it's going to take the republicans' willingness to come pro miegs and putting the taxpayers first over their own personal philosophical agenda. >> wrap it for me quickly. >> i never suggested this was an easy issue. all i'm suggesting is we might not want to assign the blame of politics in this fight. it's a substanley dwift argument. you keep saying they're opposed to the payroll tax cut.

you said as though that's a condemnation. it's not. >> i am. >> it should be embraced. >> will, robert, thank you both. patricia, always good to have you as well. this fight, as it is, continues. it's only got nine more days to continue and people's paychecks are going to get smaller. we shall see if at least the extension goes for a couple of months. thanks to you all. i'll talk to you again soon. about a quarter of the top of the hour. coming up, we're going to check out a different side of will fer rel. >> we've been to all of these fancy things, but that one night a year where we get to give out the scholarship checks is -- supersedes all of that. that she shut the door ♪thed ♪ girl started blowing up their credit score ♪ ♪ she bought a pizza party for the whole dorm floor ♪ ♪ hundred pounds of makeup at the makeup store ♪ ♪ and a ticket down to spring break in mexico ♪ ♪ but her folks didn't know 'cause her folks didn't go ♪

♪ to free-credit-score-dot-com hard times for daddy and mom. ♪

we're just getting word from more senate democrat and republican leaders. been a lot of back and forth in the last couple of hours. let me bring in kate bolduan. we're hearing from the senate minority leader now. i'm reading through the statement, and he's getting on everybody. >> reporter: right. i want to make sure we've heard. this is from senator mitch mcconnell. what we have here, he's been largely silent throughout kind of this back and forth between house republicans and senate democrats breaking his silent

today issuing a statement and proposing, really, a compromise between where the house republicans stand and what we're hearing from senate democrats. i can read you part of his statement, but essentially what i'm reading that he's proposing is that senate democrats, they move to appoint conferees, appoint negotiators to this conference committee that speaker john boehner and house republicans are demanding they move towards in order to negotiate this one-year deal. on the flip side then, the house republicans should move forward and pass this two-month extension that senate democrats and senate republicans have signed on to and that they support in order to make sure that this tax cut does not lapse. in his statement senator mitch mcconnell says that this compromise, if you will, it prevents any disruption in the payroll tax holiday or other expiring provisions and allows congress to work on a solution for the longer extension. so this is noteworthy, as i mentioned at the top, t.j. we have not heard from the top republican in the senate as there's been this wharf words

between the white house and house republicans and senate democrats. this is the first time we're really hearing from him in this late stage in the game. now he seems to be proposing a compromise. a word of warning though, we have not gotten reaction from senate democrats or house republicans yet. we'll have to see how it plays. >> i'm sure it's coming soon. kate bolduan, thank you very much. senator mcconnell. we're nine minutes to the top of the hour.

taking a look at stories making news cross-country. take a listen. this is pembroke pines, florida. carollers not just singing christmas carrels. this is outside the office of debby was ser man schultz. they're singing jail bail rock and frosty the jailer man. the group upset about the building of a large prison in the community.

in new york city the most expensive apartment in manhattan has just sold for $88 million. you know who bought it, a russian billionaire. do you know who he bought it for? his 22-year-old daughter. according to the listing, the apartment which covers the length of a city block, has ten rooms and two wood burning fireplaces. fort knox, kentucky. these never get old. take a look. 300 soldiers returning home in time for the holidays. look at that excited young lady there. they spent a year in afghanistan helping the country's security forces. there will be a little something special coming up on monday night fnl football. espn says betty white will be the star of the show's open. they're saying that the 89-year-old comedian will be part of a holiday themed piece. also tough go right now for kobe bryant. it's been rough out there for him. you know by now that he's actually getting a divorce.

also he thought he was going to get a chance to play with chris paul in that whole trade, but commissioner blocked that deal. now, throw this in, an injury. he has a torn ligament in his right wrist. this happened in monday night's preseason game against the clippers. we're told now that he is day to day. speaking of that game, this was the final warmup here, if you will, for them. blake griffin, the dude is a man child. preseason game. still, a lot of people are wondering if the clippers can now challenge the lakers for supremacy in l.a. chris paul now playing for the clippers. he will be hooking up early and often with blake griffin. griffin had 30 points. for the second time in three days the clippers beat the lakers. next hour the "cnn newsroom" coming your way. few minutes away from suzanne malveaux. four former nfl players are suing the nfl overhead injuries. they're claling they downplayed the link between concussions and brain damage. we're taking a closer look at that case, a case that could be

a big deal on the gridiron. that is coming your way when suzanne takes over after the break. [ older brother ] hey, that's the last crescent. [ younger brother ] oh, do you want it? yeah. ok, we'll split it. [ female announcer ] made fresh, so light... ...buttery and flaky... this is half. that is not half. guys i have more. [ female announcer ] do you have enough crescents?